Mysterious Skin by Greg Araki
The main character is a street based boy whore, and he really revels in the power, sexuality, and fun of meeting and playing with clients. He soon gets sick of the small town syndrome though, in one scene he is sitting in the pub and realises that every single man in there has paid him for sex, most more than once. The main theme of the film is about the sexual experiences of the young men as children at the hands of their sports coach, from two very different perspectives. However what I found interesting was that in relation to sex work they frankly show best practice, how you can make good and bad calls in sex work, education about safe sex, stigma from friends, and the loneliness of having no one to share intimate details with (if you don't know any other workers...) and its relationship to sexual abuse (as a similarly stigmatised issue.) In fact the main character is out about his sex work with his two best friends but not totally out about the sexual abuse that he experienced as a younger person. As a youthful sex worker he uses sex work to explore some of the issues that have occurred in his life due to the sexual abuse he experienced. I love these scenes the best. I could totally relate to the wonderment he expresses at realising (in a sex work situation) that he is (sexually) in total control and how much fun that is! |